Consequences
by Artehc8
Summary: Every decision had its own consequence. Things will go down a different path if there is change, be it good or bad. *ANBU Captain Naruto, conflicted by past mistakes, unresolved guilts*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

There was a cracking sound of a door opening and closing, followed by steady footsteps before silence settled in. Then came the sound of someone plumping down in a chair. That person sighed in content by the comfort of the soft cushion. Putting down his conic hat on the desk, the person then turned to look at stacks of paper to the right corner of the desk before he picked up a piece of paper from the top stack and started reading.

This moment of tranquility ended an hour later when five figures materialized from the shadow of a sofa in front of the desk. They knelt down on one knee before one of them addressed the current occupant of the room, "The mission is accomplished, Hokage-sama. The threat has been neutralized."

The said person turned his eyes from his paper and looked at the kneeling figures. They were garbing the standard armors of ANBU and adorning different masks. The Hokage himself was covered with what was called the official Hokage uniform befitting his position: a long white coat with a red, full-length kimono under, tied by a white sash. As his hat was off, his face was clear seen. His skin was light, his hair grey; his face was gaunter, and he had the wrinkles and liver spots of old age.

"Well done. You stay, Nezu. The rest are dismissed."

With departing nods, the team disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving behind their captain. The rat mask remained in the same place, waiting for any new order.

"Tell me, Nezu. How long have you been leading your team?" asked the old man, pushing his paperwork aside for later.

"It's been almost a year, sir." Nezu replied curtly, a bit perplexed with the question.

"How has your team been performing so far?" asked the Sandaime.

"The team has been so successful because of their top-notch skills and professionalism." Answered Nezu, though still not getting where the Hokage was going with this.

"That is great to hear. I expect nothing less from one of my most trusted and talented shinobi to lead such a famous ANBU team. I would like to congratulate you on that." Said Hiruzen with a smile on his face, proud of his underlings. Konoha was in good hands, and Hiruzen knew it would stay that way for a long time.

Nezu gave a polite bow as it was quite a rare occasion to receive praise from the Hokage himself. Because the old man was known to be a warm-hearted leader and always cared about his shinobi's well-being, he was highly respected by both the shinobi and the civilian factions.

"Then, I'm thinking of giving you a break as a reward for all your hard work." The Hokage continued.

Nezu was surprised by the offer. "With all due respect, it won't be necessary, Hokage-sama. I can keep going-" The rat mask ANBU replied before he was cut off.

The Sandaime raised his hand up and brought the argument to an end. "It's an order, Nezu. It is for your own good. And I'm sure your team will appreciate the break as well." Sternly he said, not accepting any more excuses from his underling. Nezu had been going on loads of missions back-to-back, which would seem typical considering his occupation as an ANBU, a captain no less. However, it was not healthy to operate in that manner in a long run. Sooner or later, he would be burned out and could end up being a liability in future missions.

The captain sighed inwardly and bowed in acceptance. There was no use in arguing with the old man when he was already set on something.

"I would like one more mission request though, Hokage-sama, if you don't mind." Said Nezu.

"Oh. And may I ask why?" asked the Sandaime with a raised eye brow.

It was quite a shock to see the captain stumbled for words for a bit, which said a lot as he had always been so confident in both his shinobi skills and wits. After a few seconds contemplating, Nezu gave his answer, "So that I can break the previous captain's record, sir."

Hiruzen stay quiet briefly before softly chuckling, causing Nezu to break a small blush behind his mask. "I see. Very well. If you are so adamant about it, I shall grant you the chance to win your own personal battle." He said before handing a scroll on the left corner of his desk to Nezu.

"Team 7 led by Hatake Kakashi is on their mission right now. They are escorting a bridge builder to the Land of Wave." said Hiruzen in his serious tone. He continued while pulling out his personal smoking pipe, "The danger threat was C-rank; however, I suspected that the client didn't reveal the whole truth to me when he requested a team. My assumption is that the mission might elevate to a higher rank and become too difficult for Kakashi alone to handle. I, by no mean, underestimate the man's skill, but he has to lead a potentially dangerous mission and at the same time look after his genins who had just recently graduated." He paused to let the news soaked in.

"I want you to be the reinforcement, but do not show yourself unless the situation requires you to."

"Understood. Consider it done." Responded Nezu. He bowed one last time before disappeared as quickly as his team did.

The aged Hokage blew out a ring of smoke from his mouth and sat quietly on his chair. It didn't go exactly as he had planned, but he was content enough with the way it turned out to be. Nezu was one of the best talents Konoha had produced. Still, once in a while, the young captain needed a break to get away from the stress of his demanding job. All shinobi needed an away time in order to not go insane or developed their own hobby, but he preferred if the young lad chose the former.

Unfortunately, for the Hokage himself, today had just started. More work to be done, and Hiruzen had to keep going. This tired body of his was yearning for a stop, but the village had not found his suitable replacement yet. Though someone seemed to have made himself into the contenders list.

* * *

There were four pairs of foot prints on the wet soil. They then turned into smudges, signifying a sudden drop down on the floor probably caused by a surprise attack.

Nezu also found a sword mark on a tree, dug into a quarter of its trunk. _A broadsword most likely. The only well-known broadsword is Kubikiribouchou of Kirigakure…_ He faintly snorted, _never thought the demon of the Mist would work for a merchant, a corrupted one even._ With the mark still fresh from a rough pulling of the sword, he predicted a battle probably might have broken only an hour ago tops.

And true to his guess, he arrived at the battle scene, not too far from the first confrontation area, witnessing Hatake Kakashi in such a predicament which was almost laughable. You were not supposed to try to escape in water when fighting a really strong water user. The silver haired Jounin ended up being held in a water prison. Right when he was about to rescue Kakashi, the masked shinobi suddenly sensed another figure in the trees. _An accomplice? Well, let's find out_.

Nezu then entered the forest and found the target a couple minutes later. The person was crouching on a tree branch, meters from Nezu and seemingly waiting for something to happen. The ANBU had to pause his advance though as he saw the garment that the person was wearing. The mask was noticeable everywhere, at least to an experienced shinobi. _Kiri Hunter-nin?_

Nezu had to tread carefully after the revelation because he didn't want to cause an international incident, intentionally or not. A shinobi was not encouraged to interfere with a mission of another ninja of another village unless ordered to. However, the mysterious figure wasn't interfering with the fight either. Nezu was slightly confused by the action, or lack thereof.

The ANBU spared a quick glance back at the fight. The situation had somehow been turned around by a smart move from both Kakashi's male genins. The boy with brown hair was quite adequate in his shuriken jutsu, and the last Uchiha was smart enough to coordinate his plan with his teammate. Zabuza was forced to pull his right hand out of his prison, losing control of the water square. The Konoha's silver haired Jounin was free and looking to exact his revenge. Zabuza jumped back to the middle of the river and quickly started forming handseals. The real surprise was that Kakashi was copying Zabuza's movement to a tee and forming the same handseals, in the same sequence.

And back to the person in hiding, Naruto noticed the tightening of the person's hands on her needles. With hair that long, it could only be a female, or at least that was what Nezu thought. Then a powerful roar brought the ANBU's attention back to the fight.

Two water dragons were battling and successfully canceling out each other. After that, the two elite ninja decided to take the fight in a different direction; Kenjutsu. Though, that was a questionable decision by Kakashi as the advantage was obviously in Zabuza's hand.

Nezu wanted to help his colleague, but he had to solve his current situation first. "Aren't you supposed to be the one to take down Zabuza?" he asked with his voice distorted by his mask. His presence was finally made known to the 'Hunter-nin'.

The person reared back in surprise of the question, or more like of the new presence. _What?! I did not sense him!_

A few seconds went by, and no answer was given. Nezu slightly narrowed his eyes behind his mask. He was more and more suspicious of this person.

Then, the person threw her senbons at Nezu in hope of catching him off-guard, only to have the said ANBU reacted by throwing his kunai back, deflecting the projectiles. The person understood that she had to retreat back and was about to escape, but was forced to form an ice shield to protect herself from being incinerated by a giant fireball.

 _Ice release?!_ This was enough of an evidence to cement the idea that the person was not a hunter-nin, but an accomplice of Zabuza. He wasn't given a chance to pursue the target though as a cubic ice dome was erected and locked him inside of it. His short stupor resulted in his temporary confinement.

The person took the time she managed to buy to escape and regroup with her master. However, she didn't notice the red hue which was starting to become brighter and brighter from inside the dome.

* * *

Both Zabuza and Kakashi leapt back from each other to take a breather and were preparing for a ninjutsu shootout but were interrupted by the sudden arrival of the hunter-nin masked figure.

"Why are you here, Haku?!" Zabuza blurted out. That was not in the plan.

"There is another Konoha shinobi, Zabuza-sama. I believe we should retreat." replied the revealed Haku in a hurry.

"What do you mean?!-" the Kiri demon was cut off though by multiple bright orange orbs flying straight at their direction. Haku erected an ice wall just in time to cover both of them, but with repercussion this time as the collision between the two contrasting elements was so close to the two mercenaries. Plus, that jutsu was definitely not a fireball. The shield began melting from the intense heat of the still in-form orbs. Haku was sweating in concentration to keep the shield intact while Zabuza was quickly trying to figure out how to get them both out of this predicament.

Naturally, fire was weak against water, so any jutsu of fire release would have been put out with ease by a water wall, let alone an ice wall. These flaming orbs were, however, still grinding into the wall as it was maintained by the creator's constant chakra reinforcement, slowly evaporating water molecules.

"I can't keep this up much longer, Zabuza-sama." Haku grunted with deep focus on her jutsu to try to hold out just a bit longer.

Luckily, the orbs retracted back to their creator. Both the master and apprentice sighed in relief, but it was short-lived when there appeared to be multiple more orbs being brought into existence. A few seconds later, those floating menaces began conjoining together, forming into an enormous ball of extreme heat ten times the size of its original technique. It was right above the two missing-nin. Zabuza widened his eyes at the sight. There was only one known user of such technique, and she was supposed to be dead a long time ago. He was sure of that as his _former_ village was the perpetrator of her death. So imagine how the demon of the mist felt when he saw the jutsu that he had only heard of.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kakashi immediately ordered his team to retreat, "Back away!"

"What?!" asked the Uchiha genin, dumbfounded by the sudden call.

"Follow me. We need to get out of here now!" yelled back the jounin. He wanted to be nowhere near that giant menace of a technique, knowing exactly what it could do. One time, he did not react fast enough and got his leg lightly scorched by it during a mission long time ago. Deciding it was far enough to be outside of the ANBU's jutsu range of damage, Kakashi then erected an earth wall to shield them all just in case.

* * *

Shaking off his thoughts, Zabuza swiftly formed a set of handseals with familiarity honed by practice. He had to be quick; otherwise, it would be over for him and Haku, being on a water source or not.

" **Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"** the swordsman yelled after finishing his own jutsu, just as the massive orb exploded.

The effect was mind-boggling when the two powerful high ranking jutsu, of contrasting natures even, clashed against each other. A giant swirling mass of water rose up to meet the massive flame, then everything turned white for a moment, followed by the thundering explosion. Water surged in all directions, and the strong explosive force from the blast shoved everything away from the vicinity. Waves rocking, trees uprooted being hurled away by the pressure as well. The aftermath was no less of a natural disaster.

It was a long while before everything seemed to settle down a little bit. It was a great idea to summon his earth wall as it took the full blunt force of colliding waves, saving the five people behind it. The silver haired jounin squinted his Sharingan to try to see what was happening inside the misty area. He could only make out a silhouette who was standing next to two unresponsive bodies floating on water. With a puff, two more silhouettes appeared before picking up the two unconscious shinobi.

After securing his capture, Nezu released a quick burst of his chakra to clear away the mist.

Then, the Hatake shunshined next to him, though the man seemed to be holding his left arm on which a trail of blood was flowing down. Kakashi definitely did not come out of that fight unharmed. "The help is deeply appreciated, Nezu." Thanked Kakashi, exchanging nods with his reinforcement.

"I'm just doing my job." Replied Nezu. He was never a man of flattery.

"But I wonder why you're here?" Kakashi asked, curious at Nezu's sudden appearance as the jounin did not recall requesting the HQ for help, though he wouldn't complain about it.

Nezu chose not to give an answer out loud when he sensed four more presences approaching, and instead, opted for hand signs that only ANBU agents would understand. _A secret mission. Assassination on an influential target. Will discuss more tonight._

Kakashi nodded in understanding. Nezu took that as a cue to leave and deal with his new prisoners. An interrogation was in order for those two.

The Hatake had suspected as much that Gatou would hire high-ranking missing-nins to kill his opposers. He thought that he might have to deal with the corrupted merchant by himself at some point. _With_ him _here, things will be much easier._ Kakashi was shook out of his thought when his genin arrived with their client.

Always the hyperactive one when seeing incredible feat by shinobi, the brown hair boy was the first to speak his mind. "Wow… that guy took those two down with one move!" You could hear the awe tone of his voice. Hell, there were stars shining in his eyes.

The girl with pink hair nodded in agreement. The white cloaked man had to be some powerful shinobi to be able to defeat enemies that her sensei had been struggling with.

All the while, the last teammate was having a thought of his own as well. _I need that kind of power. How did he manage to do it? Is it because he's an ANBU?_

Kakashi subtly chuckled at his young charges' reaction. The fight could open up their eyes to the real world of shinobi combat and get a glimpse of how the outside world was like. They had to be on pins and needles if they wanted to make it in this world.

The pink haired girl added, "He doesn't look that old either." From what she could see of him from afar, he was obviously taller than her and her teammates, but definitely shorter than Kakashi, though his covering by his cloak didn't provide a clear view for observation.

"He's one of the top talents in Konoha's ANBU rank. Reaching the captain position at such a young age is a testament to how powerful he actually is." Said Kakashi, briefly revealing some details about Nezu; however, he made sure not to say too much to compromise Nezu's identity. The jounin continued in his fake upbeat tone while showing off his signature eyes smile, "I suppose he is even stronger than me." _Though fate had not done any good for him._ That last part was kept in his mind, however.

"Well, let's get going, team. We've got a mission to continue!" cheered Kakashi, looking energized out of a sudden. He intended it to sooth his team's nerve. They must have been shocked and scared when Zabuza showed up. On the contrary, the four people around him only turned deadpanned at his random change of mood as from the start of their mission, the man had been walking a slouch manner while reading his orange book.

The old bridge builder shook his head in disappointment. This just cemented his belief that shinobi, albeit powerful, were weird.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Having foreknowledge of your opponents would always give you an edge in every battles; otherwise, it would be like fighting in darkness, not knowing the looming danger that was waiting for you. Hence, it was the mission protocol for every shinobi to gather as much intelligence regarding their missions as possible before making any strategies for their operations.

As such, Nezu had received _or forcibly demanded_ news from a _generous source_ that there would be a meeting of Gatou's hirelings in his mansion tonight. Its purpose was to give a warm _welcome_ to Zabuza for the success of his mission. It would be naïve for anyone who called themselves competent killers of hidden villages to believe that. Gatou was known for his cunningness, capable of orchestrating heinous crimes. The current situation of the Land of Waves was a plain example of his doing.

If Gatou wanted a _meeting_ , Nezu would wholeheartedly give him the meeting. Another piece of information that Nezu got was that the merchant, as irony as it was, only hired thugs and mercenaries to do his biddings. He believed that missing-nin had too high of a demand for payment, and Gatou wouldn't be who he was right now if he wasn't good at making crafty deals. However, it looked like his greed would be his own downfall.

The ANBU captain stretched his necks, popping a few joints. _Just another day of work. Only this time, it would be the head of the richest man in the world._

* * *

He was crouching on a branch of a tree, a few feet away from the building. The edifice was deep into the island, surrounded by walls of trees. A perfect location for a hideout.

Forming a handseal for transformation jutsu, his appearance was swapped with the main guest of the meeting. 'Zabuza' dropped down to the ground and walked toward the twin front doors. He could already hear the distinctive chatter of thugs from the inside.

Kicking the door open, 'Zabuza' walked in with his usual arrogant and cold demeanor, and on his shoulder flung a sand bag. Suddenly, all the noise stopped and were replaced with intense scrutiny. The Kiri missing-nin in disguise took all the glares in pride, traversing the main hall filled to the brim with dozens of thugs. Soon after, he reached the dining room.

First thing he saw was that there were also some men there, though more equipped than those in the hall, sitting in their own tables. Their conversation quieted down as well the moment 'Zabuza' showed himself. Then, there he was, the master of these wretched men, sitting at a long wooden dining table befitting of those in huge mansions. Behind him were his two personal bodyguards. Although all these mercenaries were no match for an experienced shinobi like him, 'Zabuza' would admit their number was a bit too high for him to get out without a scratch.

Gatou was enjoying his dinner. A feast, to be more precise. It was an abundance of delicious-looking foods and drinks. The only sounds that could be heard were Zabuza's steps and Gatou's discordant eating.

'Zabuza' stood before his dealer and announced, "The old geezer is dead. Give me my payment." However, the corrupted merchant was still feasting. 'Zabuza' then threw his sandbag, which was soaked red with blood, on the table. It landed on one of the dessert plates, and the content inside the bag rolled out. That turned out to be the 'head' of the bridge builder with eyes and mouth wide opened.

That did the job when Gatou immediately spewed the food he was chewing out of his mouth. One of his bodyguards took the 'head' with a disgusted look and walked away. Gatou reassumed his posture, wiping off his mouth, but not without shooting a glare full of contempt at the missing-nin for ruining his appetite.

"Finally! You are here. I thought the oh-so-scary demon of the mist had fell short of his reputation." Gatou retorted, barely managing to hide his vehement mood. He was about to continue before his attention was caught at Zabuza's attire. So worn out it was that it could hardly cover the swordsman's body anymore.

"Well, look at you." The shipping magnate bemused with a wry grin. "Couldn't handle a bunch of kids?" He finished with his aggravatingly grating chuckle.

'Zabuza' didn't rose up to the taunt, however. He had encountered cockier men; thus, such insults had become numb to him. He remained still, his face in stoic expression.

"Oh? No retort whatsoever? How unlike you, Zabuza." Gatou uttered, pretending to sigh in disappointment before his face returned to its smirking form. "You know why you are still struggling with your plan to save your village while I am enjoying a plethora of wealth and power?" Gatou casually asked Zabuza as if they were friends having a friendly chat.

"It's because we are different! _You shinobi_ always fight for your village as if there is glory in doing that while _I_ hunger for money and power!" He continued, " _I_ have money, lots of money! _You_ have just a tiny portion of mine! Money is power, Zabuza. Money can buy anything, it can get you anything that you desire!" the corrupted man vaunted, his arms opened wide just to emphasize the effect of his words.

"I can hire any mercenaries or _shinobi_ to do my bidding. I even hired you to kill off the last thorn in my side." Tauntingly Gatou said.

"Where are you going with this?" 'Zabuza' cut off the short man's narrative. The swordsman's eyes narrowed, his body braced in anticipation.

"I've finally had the Land of Waves under my thumb. What makes you think I won't get rid of you now? There are dozens of men here, and you are badly injured from your fight as well. Do you think you can handle them all by yourself? Your lackey won't be here in time to save you either." Gatou explained, candidly revealing his plan.

The swordsman scoffed at the ridiculous remark. "You'll regret this, little man."

That insult unexpectedly broke something inside Gatou's head. Then, his condescending expression diminished as rage took its place. His face turned red, his eyes venomously glared at Zabuza. "Kill him! I will give 10,000 ryo to the one who can take that bastard's head" he yelled out his command.

All the mercenaries in the room stood up and prepared to engage. There were hungry looks in their eyes, wanting to get a piece of the swordsman for the reward. Then, with a yell, all hell broke loose.

* * *

Just as the first wave of men were meters away from reaching their target, Zabuza's body glowed brightly, and time seemed to slow down at the last minute. What happened next was the swordsman exploded in a giant fiery destruction, decimating everyone within a small radius. The rest were blasted away by the collision, violently hitting the walls. Some were killed immediately while others were left severely lacerated by fire. The furthest ones from the blast were barely holding onto consciousness.

Luckily, Gatou were among those. His head was ringing, his focus fuzzy. His eyes kept on blinking to wash away the blur. He managed to raise his body and leaned it on the wall. He looked left and right while he was profusely breathing. One moment his men were running toward Zabuza, and another moment the said man exploded.

The shipping magnate didn't know how long had passed, but his eyes could make out a figure standing on top of Zori, his bodyguard. Instead of a tall man with a big broadman, there was a slightly smaller figure whose whole body was covered by an overhead white cloak.

The man raised up his tanto. Then, with a swift swing, the tanto separated Zori's head from the body, splashing out goo of blood.

Then everything became clear to Gatou. His eyes widened in horror at the sight. Lying down on the floor in disarray were the dead bodies of his lackeys. Some were coal black caused by the explosion. Those who had survived were later on finished off by the cloaked figure.

Gatou was shook with fear. His body was trembling in a quick jerky manner. His pants were starting to get wet by his own urine.

Not helping at all was the figure's slow walking toward him. Blood was dripping down the tip of the sword, creating ripples on the pool of blood on the floor. Gatou dared not to look at the killer's face, afraid he would defecate his pants as well.

The figure was now right in front of the semi-crying and shaking man. The slow and suffocating pressure was directed at Gatou, fueled on by his appearance which was decorated with fresh blood stains.

The corrupted merchant, in his desperate attempt to make a deal to save his own life, managed to stutter out, "W-who are you?!"

A few seconds went on in silence.

"P-please spare me! I-I can g-give you anything!" Gatou continued his pleading.

The figure answered in a muffled voice, "No."

"W-why?" Gatou's last chance to survive was squashed by the curt response.

"Because I'm different from you." With that, Nezu swung his tanto horizontally at the man. Gatou's head fell down to the floor. The corrupted shipping magnate of Waves was no more.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I do not own Naruto._

* * *

 _Two figures were seen standing in a hallway. They were leaning on each side of the wall respectively. Their chests were moving up and down, drawing in as much breath as possible._

" _This was all a trap!" The one with a hare design mask spoke out._

" _The timing was too accurate to be a coincidence." The other with a rat mask agreed. Soon after, the sound of feet flapping against the floor was heard, indicating their enemies were approaching._

" _Go! I'll stay and hold them off." She pushed her body off the wall and stood straight._

" _What are you talking about?! We leave together!" Nezu exclaimed, unconsciously took a step toward Usagi. That was one of the few times that Nezu were flabbergasted by anything, let alone such respond._

" _No! We all know there is no way we can escape here without a scratch." Usagi retorted, moving up close to Nezu's face as well, not willing to back down from her decision._

" _Then, I'll stay with you!" Nezu yelled back. His voice was frantic as if he was panicking._

 _The female went rigid for a second before saying, "I won't let you do that. My mind is set."_

" _I'm your captain, so you will listen to my command!"_

" _I'm sorry, captain, but I will have to disobey you this time." Her tone turned gentle and low-keyed but unfaltering._

 _Before Nezu was able to give his retort, Usagi cut him off by jumping up to him who was taller than her by a few inches, and wrapping her arms around her stunned captain. She faintly whispered into his left ear, "You have saved my life so many times. Now I want to return the favor."_

 _She suddenly shoved him forward and proceeded to take out the remaining explosive tags she had left, sticking them on the concrete wall. Finished with her set-up, Usagi raised her right hand up to her face and peeled her mask off._

 _Nezu landed on the floor, skidding back a couple feet, but that was none of his concern right now. What mattered was that the last of his team had just done something stupid. He was in shell shock. His widened eyes locked onto her face. All he could make out was her lips moving, constructing a sound of words. However, he heard nothing. Then, he saw her last smile. It was so serene even with the tears rolling down her cheeks that he had thought maybe she was happy with what she had done._

 _It all abruptly ended when a wall of mud rose up from the ground, separating him from her, then a deafening explosion occurred._

Nezu unceremoniously opened his eyes. Such a light sleeper that he was, Nezu was awoken by a sudden movement down below. His prisoner apparently had escaped out of her binding, and seemed to be moving discreetly toward the doppelganger of the ANBU.

Reaching her target, Haku looped her arms around 'Nezu's head and fiercely twisted his neck. However, instead of hearing the pop of his cervical vertebrae, she was met with an explosion of a shroud of cloud.

"Now that would have been _too easy_ , wouldn't you think?" Nezu's voice from above a tree alarmed her at her failure to murder him. As Haku tried to quickly run away, she soon found herself immobilized once again by a mud binding this time.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Haku asked, glaring at her capturer.

"Why would I?" Nezu simply answered with a subtle shrug of his shoulders. "I can extract a lot of crucial information about the mist from you. Isn't that why the _Hunter-nin corps_ was created, to prevent any spoil of intelligence by captured missing-nin?"

Haku spit at the ground though her spiteful expression was unbefitting of her gentle facial beauty. "You won't get anything from me!"

 _Oh~fiesty_ "But would you still keep your mouth sealed if your master's life was in my hand?" Nezu replied. Of course, Zabuza was kept in the same situation, just at a different location. Wouldn't want those two near each other and risk their escaping now.

Haku was shocked as she heard that, but schooled her expression afterward. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her breaking. "Zabuza-sama would still want me to not tell you anything! I'd rather die!" Haku said valiantly, albeit sounding more like trying to convince herself that she was right.

Nezu internally sighed. This method would not work; plus, he didn't feel like using violence again after slaughtering so many lives last night. The nightmare would last long enough, that much he was sure.

The master-disciple duo wouldn't be going anywhere either, not under his watch; hence, Nezu resorted to subtle interrogation, asking for their background story. Maybe there could be something that he could use.

He had stayed silent for a few minutes to let the tension lower a bit before he changed the pace of the conversation. "What did the infamous devil of the mist do to make you so loyal to him?" The ANBU captain asked, changing his tune to a more gentle sound.

 _Of course, the no-reply reply…_ "You must have been so young when you met him, huh?" Nezu continued. He saw a slight twitch of her body, no matter how subtle it was.

"Ah… I bet he had saved your life. _Hook~_ 'Never knew the devil had a soft side for young girls. _Line~_ 'Heard that he had slaughtered all his classmates while he was a genin and dare to-"

"He was not like what you think!" Haku hastily retorted back.

 _And sinker!~_

"Why not? Everyone knows that he is a traitor to his village. He even tried to assassinate the Yondaime Mizukage. Wouldn't that define him as an evil man?" Nezu continued his taunt at Haku. It was going accordingly to what he wanted to hear.

Without even knowing, Haku fiercely defended Zabuza from the accusation. "The Yondaime was a monster! Zabuza-sama tried to save his village from the chaos!"

"But that still wouldn't-" Once again, Nezu was cut off, though he wouldn't mind.

"He wanted to end the meaningless war!"

"You were so young at the time. What would you know?"

"What would _you_ know?! He had saved several survivors, young ones from the Bloodline Massacre! The _loyalist_ had chased us out of our home and killed our parents. Zabuza-sama had saved our lives!"

"Hmm… true that." Nezu somehow seemed to accept her rebuttal, actually satisfied that he had gotten that much from her.

By the end of the bout of words, Haku was panting and glaring at her capturer, cursing at herself and Nezu. She could not believe that he had made her a fool, managing to extract so much information from her. Nezu had cleverly made use of her state of being such an emotional wreck which were stemmed from the frustration that, such a loyal disciple that she was, Haku had failed to protect her master, which led to their current dilemma.

"Now that you've gotten what you want, are you going to kill me?" Haku asked with such venomous contention.

Nezu shook his head at the spiteful remark by the gentle looking lady. "Actually, you kinda remind me of someone I know. Gentle soul, strong will. _Naïve~_ I'll let you live for a little bit longer."

He then stood up before continuing, "Thanks for the talk. And don't waste your breath trying to escape 'cuz I won't be as nice next time." With that, Nezu summoned another clone to keep watch before he shunshined away.

* * *

A/N: I hope this chapter shows you a small glimpse of Naruto's past. I apologize that this one is a bit too short, but I haven't got much time to write, with so much stuff going on and exams. Yes, the bane of every students. Anyway, have a good day!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: It has been more than a year since the last update. I apologize for that if there is anyone at all still reading this. Life got the better of me, so I had to put this story on hold. Just like I've written in my bio, I will post new chapters when I have time, so please do not expect a regular update. After all, this is just a hobby and something I feel like I want to share to my fellow fan-fiction readers: crafting a story of our own imagination when an interesting fan-fiction to distract our mind from the reality hasn't been found yet. Anyway, enjoy this rather humble piece of writing. Of course, I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Just as Zabuza was about to finish off his fight with the famed Hatake, a new face showed up and completely ruined his plan. All the swordsman remembered was Haku and him being bombarded with multiple fireballs, courtesy of the unknown figure. Even though Haku managed to negate all of those fireballs, the next jutsu was something that Zabuza did not see coming at all. A giant reddish-orange orb floated above them before violently exploded at the same time as he released his jutsu with his remaining chakra. Then, everything went white as he lost consciousness. Now, he woke up finding himself tied to a tree with a seal on his chest in the middle of a forest.

Haku was nowhere to be seen. He didn't even know whether she was still alive or not. There was nothing he could do, and that pissed him off the most.

"I see you are awake." Uttered a voice.

Zabuza looked up to see the perpetrator who made him end up like this. Nezu was sitting casually with his legs hanging off the branch of the tree.

Always on a tree. No wonder they were called tree huggers.

Zabuza sneered at the masked ninja and said, "Come to finish the job, lap dog?!"

"I'm not in the mood for a verbal banter, so I'm going be short with what I have to say." Replied Nezu. Contrary to his posture, Nezu sounded pretty serious.

Zabuza just snorted at the tone of indifference from the ANBU.

Nezu continued, "I am keeping you two alive because I have a proposal for you."

Zabuza raised his eyebrows, surprised by what he heard before narrowing his eyes in suspicion of what the ANBU was planning. At least, now he knew Haku was alive.

"I know what your goal is, Momochi Zabuza. And apparently, it's aligned with mine. So, here's the thing. Should you accept my deal, I will let you go free." Declared Nezu.

"If I refuse?" asked Zabuza, deciding to entertain himself with the offer. "And what makes you think I'm gonna accept it?"

"So, you're saying you will risk your disciple's life for your pride when she has risked her life for yours?"

Zabuza growled at the implication, his nose flaring out in anger. Even if he had never shown it, the missing-nin did care for Haku. This time, it seemed his hands were forced. He would have to swallow his ego if he wanted to survive. Curse his luck!

"You don't have to give the answer now." Nezu continued, switching to a lighter tone.

That got Zabuza to halt his train of thought. "And what do you get from letting us go?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes, remaining tense and focusing on every word the ANBU uttered out.

"An alliance between Konoha and Kiri."

This sounded increasingly fishy to Zabuza. Of course, it would be; there were so many variables that would put the deal in jeopardy for Konoha's side. Nezu was surprisingly being lenient for a ruthless killer. Why would the ANBU before him put so much trust in a missing-nin? Or was this just a cruel sadistic joke, giving him hope only to crush that hope later?

"Now I know what you are thinking. What would guarantee your delivering your end of the deal or your participation in the war at all? You could just 'accept' the deal just to escape and I would gain nothing but the freedom of my two enemies." Said Nezu, with a careless shrug of his shoulders. "Well, let's just say _her_ immense sense of loyalty didn't come from nowhere. And you'd like to save your country, correct?"

For once, Zabuza couldn't find a retort. Nezu had hit all the right buttons.

Taking the silence as a yes, Nezu left after saying, "Then there you have it. The fate of your country and your disciple are in your hands right now."

* * *

"His reputation as a former member of the Seven Swordsmen's strongest generation is proof of his immense physical and mental prowess. So, it's not gonna be easy getting anything from him through mere interrogation. Plus, what else would we get besides the information we already have about the Mist's civil war?" Kakashi inquired, already putting away his book deeming their conversation as a more important task at the moment. "Are you suggesting letting them go freely? Isn't that contradicting your mission?"

Nezu shook his head, "No. I'm suggesting we let them _return_ to their home village. We've received news that the Rebel forces led by Mei Terumi are gaining the upper hand over the Loyalist's force."

It caused a raise of an eyebrow from Kakashi. Crossing his arms, the jounin was still unsure about that decision. "That is quite a risk you are taking. Is he even planning to join the Rebel side? Last time I checked, Zabuza is raising money to fight back the Mizukage _on his own_."

Nezu nodded his head, understanding his former colleague's question. "I do not know for sure, but let's just say I have a hunch that he will."

Kakashi had an inkling idea of where Nezu got that hunch from. "You talked to Zabuza's disciple, didn't you?"

"Yes. Easily made her slip out some confirmation. She sounded honest enough."

There was a slight glint in the older ninja's eyes as if he had his suspicion figured out. "You are surprisingly trusting this time. You normally don't make judgments based on a mere hunch." Kakashi said, with a sign of amusement in his voice.

Before Nezu got to reply, the door slammed open interrupting the conversation. It was the brown-haired student of Kakashi's who entered the room. He looked excited, probably having some good news to tell his teacher. Hayashi saw Kakashi resting on his bedhead, but the boy felt as if there was another presence in the room. Pushing that thought away, for now, Hayashi told his teacher, "Kakashi-sensei, you won't believe this! Gatou is dead!"

Feigning a surprised expression, not that it was shown with his mask veiling his face and all, Kakashi blurted out, "Really now?"

"Yeah! His mansion was burnt down to the ground along with him and his thugs." The kid answered with a huge grin on his face, obviously believing justice had been served to the corrupted vile merchant.

The Jounin went along with his student's excitement, "And do you know who did it?"

"Unfortunately no. The one witness said when he arrived at the scene, the mansion had already turned coal black."

"Well, what a pity." The Jounin said with a rise in his normally drawled voice tone.

Hayashi continued, "Anyway, we are having a gathering today. The villagers want to celebrate their freedom, and they want us to join."

"Good. Go prepare yourself. I'll be downstairs soon." With that, Hayashi rushed back to the living room, looking happy as if he hadn't faced death just a day ago.

As his student closed the door, Kakashi said to Nezu who had been using the camouflaging technique, "You didn't confide in me about your plan." Though there was no hint of anger at all coming from him.

"You don't look surprised." Replied Nezu, his hand crossed and his head tilted.

The Jounin just shrugged his shoulders, not caring enough about the outcome. "Technically, you don't need my authority anyway. I figured your saying that you would discuss with me on how to eliminate your target was just a courtesy in and of itself. Save me from any more work." He finished with his usual eye smile.

Nezu just shook his head in exasperation at the older ninja's typical lazy response. But make no mistake that the man wouldn't be willing to end your life with that same smile on his face.

"You know, you still haven't told me the exact reason why you left Zabuza's disciple alive." Said Kakashi, stopping Nezu from taking his leave.

The young captain replied with a slight rise in his voice, "As I've just told you, I let them live so that they could return and join the Mist's Civil War-"

"The disciple reminded you of her, didn't she?" With that, Kakashi dropped the bomb, ending Nezu's retort. The ANBU was rendered silent by that. "You know, it was not your fault that the mission failed."

Right there and then, Nezu's emotionless façade faltered. When kept for too long, all the reined in anger and guilt could break even a ruthless and intrepid shinobi who was trained to face deathly situations without a hint of fear. "It WAS! So stop saying that it wasn't.", said Nezu gritting his teeth.

Kakashi sighed before continuing, "Accidents during missions happen. You know that as well as I do."

"But their deaths are on me, Kakashi!" yelled Nezu turning back to face the Jounin. "Her death is on me!" His voice cracked at the end.

But that still didn't faze the more experienced man. Kakashi had to be strong for Nezu, a person among the few whom he considered his loved ones. Otherwise, the boy in front of him would become just like him, a broken shell spending his remaining days angry at himself for not being able to save those he called family. "There was nothing that you could do about it."

"But-"

"Naruto!" Kakashi uttered with a sense of finality. The Jounin's eyes softened when he saw Nezu lowered his head in defeat. "You are on the right track. You've saved that girl's life. That is the least you can do to finally have some sort of closure, so I hope you will finally move on with your life."

With that said, Kakashi got up from his bed and exited the room, leaving the young ANBU captain alone. For a person being so in-controlled in mind games, Nezu's feeling was in turmoil because of a past mistake. How ironic that Nezu was now tasting his own medicine, being left to contemplate on others' words. He let out a sigh before leaving the room as well. His destination: on a branch of a tree somewhere in the forest.


End file.
